The race Boys At Tosconova ran in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile would’ve been good enough for first money many years, but the Rick Dutrow-trained Boys At Tosconova ran into a monster from the Todd Pletcher barn, Uncle Mo. That same dynamic might be at work in the Hutcheson Stakes on Saturday, where the flashy Dutrow maiden winner Flashpoint goes against the Pletcher-trained Travelin Man, among the sharpest debut winners of the Gulfstream meet.

Special Kid appears to have stepped up his game since he began racing on dirt two races back, which will serve him well on Saturday when he makes his first start outside of Southern California in the $100,000 Borderland Derby at Sunland Park.

But there’s more to the story than a surface switch. Special Kid was gelded two starts ago, and since that point has begun to run to his potential, said his trainer, Doug O’Neill.

Mont Pelato’s bold American ambitions start on Saturday at the unlikely venue of Cagnes-sur-Mer, a racecourse that lies just a few miles from the ritzy seafront resort of Nice on the French Riviera where he will use the listed, $75,000 Prix Policeman at 1 1/4 miles as a trial for Keeneland’s Blue Grass Stakes. An undefeated Kentucky-bred son of Forest Danger, Mont Pelato already owns two wins going 1 3/16 miles on the Deauville Fibresand track, so the extra sixteenth on the Cagnes Fibersand strip should be right up his alley.

Things have had a way of coming full circle for Soldat and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. Soldat begin his career on dirt, took a detour to turf, and now is being given a chance to make the Kentucky Derby, starting with the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

Bandbox, 2 for 2 in stakes while racing seven furlongs but idle for three months, makes his 3-year-old debut at his favorite distance in Saturday’s $75,000 Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel Park.

PHOENIX – Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer knew it was going to be tough enough last Sunday sending his crack 3-year-old Indian Winter up against the freakishly fast The Factor in Santa Anita’s Grade 3 San Vicente, and when he determined a speed bias would favor The Factor even further, he opted out, scratching his horse. His fears were confirmed when The Factor ran lights-out again to win the San Vicente.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – To Honor and Serve drew post position 7 and tops a field of eight 3-year-olds and Kentucky Derby hopefuls who will contest Saturday’s $400,000 Fountain of Youth.

The Grade 2 Fountain of Youth is one of three graded stakes for 3-year-olds on Saturday’s program, along with the Grade 2 Hutcheson and Grade 2 Davona Dale for fillies.

KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail

 HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Southwest Stakes was not the only race at Oaklawn Park on Monday to produce starters for next month’s Grade 2, $300,000 Rebel. Alternation emerged as a candidate for the race following an allowance win on the undercard. He closed from next to last going 1 1/16 miles, and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 83.

“He overcame a bad break, showed some class down the lane,” said Donnie Von Hemel, who trains Alternation for Pin Oak Stable. “He looks like a horse with a future.”

It’s entirely possible that the most talented 3-year-old to race on the Risen Star card Saturday at Fair Grounds wasn’t in the Risen Star at all. Bind made his career debut in a maiden special weight sprint, race 3, and was absolutely sensational. Bind sat third behind a scorching early pace, seized command at the top of the stretch after being roused at the three-furlong pole, and went on to win by 9 1/4 lengths. His six-furlong time of 1:08.80 produced a Beyer Speed Figure of 105, a number that seems completely legitimate.

A minority interest in Soldat, who is scheduled to run on Saturday in the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park, was purchased this week by Paul Braverman and the Namcook Stables of Terrence Murray and Jack Conley, Kiaran McLaughlin, the trainer of Soldat, said Wednesday morning.